Integration as an alternative for split systems in early childhood care and education

PhD student: Lobke Van Lombergen
Summary: The importance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) of good quality is growing in interest. In order to guarantee quality, there is an increasing consensus that ECEC should be based on a holistic view of children, as in an integrated system where learning and care are not separate. However, Flanders has a split system with separate institutions for children up to three years old, what we call 'child care', and for children from three to six years old, so called ‘preschool’. This often means a distinction between care and education and has problematic consequences: low accessibility and lack of places in care institution, abrupt transitions, high costs for parents, low qualifications... Through a multiple case study of different projects that aim at an integration between care and education, implications and challenges for the realisation of integrated systems in ECEC are revealed.
PhD in Educational Sciences
Promoter(s): Michel Vandenbroeck, Jochen Devlieghere (Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University)
Periode of time: February 2022 - February 2028